Wake Up and Smell the Romance
by forensicsfan
Summary: Oh, what will it take to make Booth and Brennan wake up and smell the romance in the midst of death, decay, and denial? Hopefully a few interesting situations and maybe even a push or two from our favorite artis
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them, I didn't create them, and I certainly don't profit from them, but I do enjoy taking them out from time to time to take them on my adventures.

**Author's Note:** This is a work in progress and as such, I hope you'll come along for the ride. And while there may be a case involved here, the title is there for a reason because at the heart of Bones we know that our favorite 'non-couple' is meant to be together in the end.

* * *

Paw Paw, West Virginia was little more than a wide spot in the road compared to the sprawl of the DC metro area, but that didn't mean that the outskirts of the small hamlet wasn't the perfect place for a crime scene. Special Agent Seeley Booth had been barking orders around the burned out shell of what had once been a single-wide mobile home, the result of an apparent arson, while his partner Dr. Temperance Brennan examined the charred human remains that had been found inside.

"Victim appears to be a female in her mid to late twenties." It was the fourth victim that Brennan had examined. All of them had been found in the one small bedroom in the back of the trailer and given their positioning, she was fairly certain that the smoke had killed them in their sleep before the fire had even reached the bedroom.

Booth furiously scribbled in his notebook and then glanced over at the paunchy county sheriff that had just jogged up, seemly out of breath at the effort.

"Apparently, a couple of gals and two kids moved in over the weekend. Trailer was empty before that." The lawman resembled a bulldog that the buttons on his shirt were having a hard time trying to contain.

"Names?" Booth was impatient. They had driven three and half hours to get out here from Washington and it was apparent by the lack of progress they had made in the five hours they'd been here that he and Bones would be spending the night.

"Working on that right now." The sheriff huffed and then scratched his beefy jowl as he surveyed the scene. "Your lady there seems to be moving awfully slow." He wasn't used to these scientific city folks – out here you got the body to the county morgue as quick as possible. She seemed to take her time about putting the poor fried folks into body bags.

"My _partner_ is the best in her field, so if I were you, Sheriff Murdock, I'd let her do her job." Booth gave the man a pointed gaze and made it damn clear that this was _his_ jurisdiction now.

"Sure thing, Agent Booth." If this FBI bigwig was going to make a federal stink out of things, he was more than happy to back off – less paperwork for him that way.

Brennan pursed her lips together as she interjected her own comment. "Sheriff, a slow methodical examination of the remains prior to moving them provides us with evidence that might be destroyed if we summarily tossed them into a body bag."

He simply nodded.

Booth puffed his chest out just a little bit and smiled smugly.

Brennan zipped the last of the body bags closed and stood up, brushing a stray piece of hair back with the sleeve of her coveralls. "I want forensics to send the remains back to the Jeffersonian."

"What, you don't want the entire trailer too?" Booth was only half joking – ever since she'd requested that Gormogon's entire vault be moved to the Jeffersonian, nothing she asked for surprised him anymore.

"Yes, I do actually." She stepped carefully out of the rubble. "But I want to gather more samples first and make sure that we've gotten everything we can while it's still in place." Moving an entire trailer was certain to disrupt things and she wanted to make sure that things were left in context as much as possible while they did their investigation.

"So you folks are gonna need another day then." The sheriff came to his own conclusion and he pulled out his cell phone and punched in a number. "Only one place to stay in town, I'll make some arrangements for you."

"One hotel, huh?" Booth was a little surprised there was even the one given the size of the town – he only hoped that they had more than one room.

"I'm sure whatever accommodations they have will be fine, Booth," Brennan interjected, pulling off her heavy duty rubber gloves.

"This is Sheriff Murdock and I've got a couple of FBI folks here that are gonna need a room for the night." He smiled into the phone at whoever it was that answered on the other end.

"_Two_ rooms. We're going to need two rooms." It was a tie as to which of them said it first.

"Make that _two_ rooms if you've got 'em." He smirked a little as if the lightning quick response amused him. "Ok, then, I'll tell this fella here how to get there." He clicked off the call and glanced back over to the agent and his partner.

"We're going to need the area secured overnight." Booth was ready to call in additional law enforcement if the sheriff couldn't pony up and provide them.

"Got a couple of guys coming in for some overtime to help you out." As much as he knew the agent was trying to take charge, he wasn't easily bullied, but he also knew how to secure a crime scene by the book – so by the book it was.

"Where is the hotel?" Brennan was anxious to clean up and maybe grab a bite to eat before calling the Jeffersonian and checking her email. Hopefully, there was a restaurant that had at least one dish that was vegetarian friendly.

"Grandma's Country Kitchen and Inn is down the road a ways, maybe a mile or two. You follow the highway and then turn right at the Gas-N-Sip and it's up on your left just a short ways up." The Sheriff hoped that his duty was done for the night. He still had about a quarter of the county to patrol. As it was they'd had to call in extra hands just to cover this scene with the FBI.

"Of course it is," Booth muttered under his breath. He only hoped that 'Grandma' could cook as well as the name of her establishment implied because the last food he'd had was too long ago for his stomach to remember.

Brennan shot him a pointed glance before turning her attention to the sheriff. "Thank you." There wasn't much they were going to accomplish out here with the daylight quickly fading.

"Right then – I'll secure the premises and see you at first light." The sheriff seemed to see the matter as closed and turned and walked off in the direction of his squad car, presumably to wait until his back up arrived.

Brennan's mind shifted into overdrive. "I should call Cam and let her know the remains are on their way. Hodgins will want to check for particulates. And..."

Booth interrupted, "And I'm sure that they've all gone home for the day." He offered her a smile. "Let's get something to eat and then you can leave Cam a message." He was sure that even Bones knew the rest of the squints didn't lurk around the Jeffersonian the way that she did – especially when they didn't have a case to work on. He had a few phone calls of his own to make – starting with getting a flatbed semi out to bring the trailer back to DC.

The charm in his smile seemed to work because she easily caved. "I _am_ hungry and maybe a little tired too. And we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow." She was already mentally prioritizing the next day's tasks.

He began to propel her in the direction of the SUV and he could swear he could hear the gears turning inside of that pretty head of hers. He inwardly chuckled. "Well, let's just see what '_Grandma'_ has in store. Maybe if we're lucky she'll have pie."

"I don't see what luck has to do with it. Many eating establishments serve pie," Brennan remarked and then launched into the benefits of a well balanced diet including vegetables as the central focus of the meal.

Booth made a mental note to have that pie of his ala mode.


	2. Chapter 2

"The Sheriff said we needed two rooms. I heard him myself, Charlie." Booth took note of the nametag adorning the bespectacled man standing behind the counter of the inn portion of Grandma's Country Kitchen and Inn.

"Booth is right, we need two rooms," Brennan added. She was anxious to clean up after sifting through the crime scene.

"He said _if_ we had them, and we don't. I have _one_ room. The other two rooms have already been let out for the night. You're lucky we have the one." His tone was patient.

"Well then, is there another hotel in town?" Booth was hopeful. Sharing a hotel room with Bones was a recipe for a sleepless night and potential disaster.

"We're the only one within thirty miles, Agent Booth," Charlie answered. "The room does have a sleeper sofa though. I know that's not the same as two rooms, but the sleeper sofa does give it two beds."

"I'm sure that will be adequate." As much as Brennan would have preferred her own hotel room she thought that a sleeper sofa was reasonable solution to sharing a room with Booth. It wasn't as if they were going to be sharing a bed and after all it was only for one night.

"Fine." Booth was doubtful although he tried to keep his expression neutral. At least he wasn't going to have to camp out in the back of his SUV – early October nights could be rather chilly.

"You gonna need some supper?" Charlie looked the pair over as he handed them the room key – they both looked tired and he was sure that one of Grandma's home-style meals could do them a world of good. It was past time that they normally served dinner, but he was sure they could whip up something for these two guests. From the sounds of things around town that crime scene had been pretty ugly. "I believe we've still got some of Grandma's macaroni and cheese."

"That would be nice. Thank you." Booth nodded in appreciation as he handed Bones the key to the room.

"I can bring it up to your room if you like – the dining room is a little lonely this time of night." Charlie offered – something that was just a part of the way they tried to make their guests feel at home.

"Do you have any pie?" Brennan glanced over Booth – she didn't want him to miss out on his pie. "Booth likes pie."

Charlie let out a soft chuckle – he had a feeling these two would do just fine sharing a room. "We've got some of the best pie in these parts. Don't worry I'll take care of you two fine. Just get yourselves settled." He waved them towards the stairs and headed in the direction of what was presumably the kitchen.

"Why did he assume I'd be worried?" Brennan glanced over her shoulder at Booth as they made their way up the stairs with bags in hand.

"It's an expression, Bones." Oh how he wished that sassy little behind of hers wasn't taunting him in those coveralls as it swayed back and forth right in front of him – he should have kept the key himself so that he would have had a damn good reason to go first up the stairs. Fortunately, their room was the first door on the right and he felt relieved as the door swung open that it was actually rather large and looked very comfortable.

Brennan tossed her bag on the bed and gestured towards the bathroom. "I'm going to get cleaned up."

"No problem, I'm just going to check and see if the Phillies game is on." Booth was thrilled that his team was in the playoffs and he was hoping that they might just make it all the way to the World Series.

"Is there a horse tournament on?" Brennan didn't understand how Booth could be interested in so many sports when there were so many other things to be interested in that didn't involve television.

"Baseball, Bones. The Phillies are a baseball team from Philadelphia. They haven't made the World Series since 1993. This could be their year." Booth clicked on the television and stretched out on the couch as he began flipping channels in search of the game or a score or anything else with a lot of statistics to keep him from thinking about sharing a room with Bones.

"So just appearing in the World Series would be an accomplishment for the Philadelphians?" She noted the way his shirt hugged his taught muscles as he lay there and she reasoned that a man structured as well as Booth would of course have an attractive physique – one that she wasn't going to think about because they had a line and she wasn't going to cross it.

"Phillies, Bones." Booth snorted out in amusement and then glanced over where she stood near the bathroom door. "And yes, it _would_ be quite an accomplishment."

"Well then I hope they make it." She offered him a smile and disappeared into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

Booth exhaled heavily. This was going to be a long night. They still had some work to do once they'd eaten, but sleeping in the same room was going to make it even longer. He'd been fighting against himself for a while – perfectly natural since they spent so much time together. He was just going to have to focus and then see if he could find someone to date once they got back to DC. He had been in a bit of a dry spell and he was sure that's why his thoughts had gotten rather unpartnerlike lately.

The sound of the shower just seemed to make things worse and he was grateful that he actually found the game he was looking for, but at the moment his team was trailing the Dodgers by six runs. He was glad when his thoughts were interrupted by a tap at the door.

"Got your supper here." Charlie was all smiles as he carried in the promised dinner and set it on a small table in the room. He'd completed the macaroni and cheese meal with salad, rolls, a couple of pieces of pie and a carafe of coffee. "If you need anything else just let me know."

"No, this is great. Thank you." He knew that Bones wouldn't want the pie, but then again, he wasn't interested in eating salad so they were even.

"We start breakfast at six. I know you probably have to be back out to meet the sheriff and all." Charlie didn't miss much that happened in town.

Booth looked at him curiously. "Did you know the people that were killed in the fire?"

"Not really. I understand that they just moved in recently – I think they had lunch in here the day they moved in. Spoke a lot of Spanish. I do remember that." His thoughts drifted back to the women and children, all of them far too young to die.

"Do you know who lived in the trailer before?" The Sheriff had told Booth that it had been empty, but so far they didn't even know the names of the victims. Perhaps if he could find out who had owned the trailer before then they would be able to provide the name of at least one of the victims.

"Young couple used to live there. Sheriff could probably tell you a lot more – I think he spent quite a bit of time out there answering calls if you know what I mean. Don't really know where they went – rumor has it she up and left one night and he left not to long after that. Haven't seen either one of them around in months." Charlie nodded at Booth. "Good luck with this one, Agent Booth. Those young gals and those kids sure didn't deserve this."

"No, they didn't." Booth agreed and shut the door behind Charlie.

Brennan emerged from the bathroom a few moments later dressed in a tank and track pants, toweling her hair. At the sight of the food, she smiled. "That was very quick."

"Smells good too." Booth grinned at her – he was only partly talking about the food. A freshly washed Bones smelling like heaven seemed almost irresistible. Almost. It was that almost that kept him from doing something he was sure he'd immediately regret.

She wasn't oblivious to the way he seemed to be looking at her, but she had to remind herself that they were partners and they were here to do a job. Toeing across some imaginary line was only going to create complications that they would both see as being a huge mistake once they got back to DC. Surely her recent failures into the dating world were to blame for the way her thoughts kept irrationally drifting towards Booth.

She just needed to compartmentalize.

"Your mac and cheese is better." Booth was sure this was going to be an extraordinarily long night.

"Then maybe I should make it for you again sometime." The words were out of her mouth before she could consider the implications.

"That would be nice." Booth shoved another forkful into his mouth to keep himself from saying anything else about what he thought might be nice. _Just focus Seeley – think about the Phillies' pitching stats. Think about anything but how delicious your partner looks right now._

Mac and cheese, pie, and Bones – yes, a virtual recipe for disaster if he expected to get any sleep at all.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:** I want to apologize to my readers for keeping you hanging for so long. That was not my intention, but apparently, the evil computer virus people had other ideas. But I have subdued the evil viruses and taken my computer back from the brink of certain cyber death. A bit of advice from me to you – don't ever let your virus protection lapse for even 10 seconds. And now, back to our story.

* * *

Booth had settled into the pullout couch and he had to admit that it wasn't as bad as he'd thought. Although his eyes were closed he felt on edge. The clackity-clack of Bones typing away on her laptop in the semidarkness of the room was a constant reminder that he was over here trying to make himself sleep and she was over there not being over here with him. He shifted his weight in an attempt to distract himself from the way the soft light from her laptop and the small bedside light illuminated her face – not that he could see it unless he closed his eyes only as far as a squint. The double meaning of squinting at his squint wasn't lost on him and he let out a chuckle that was much more audible than he'd intended.

"Booth, I can turn this off if this is keeping you up." Brennan glanced up and looked across the room, her partner looking far more attractive to her than she wanted to admit.

"Nope, just trying to get comfy." He was lying, but she didn't need to know that. He grabbed the pillow and punched it a few times before tucking it back underneath his head.

She turned her attention back to her computer satisfied that Booth just needed some time to adjust to the accommodations. The late dinner had given her more energy and so she'd opted to rework the latest chapter in her new book rather than pretend that she was actually tired.

The sounds of typing started to lull Booth into a sleepy state and he might have actually fallen asleep if it hadn't been for a rather loud thump against the wall.

_Thump._

_Thump._

_Thumpity-thump._

Booth inwardly cursed.

"Did you hear that?" Brennan had heard Booth shifting around, and even if he had been sound asleep, his sniper training would have honed right in on the sound.

"Unfortunately, yes." Why in the hell couldn't she just pretend that she hadn't heard it? Why bring up what was clearly going on in the room next door?

_Thumpity, thumpity, thump, thump, thump._

"I don't know why hotels don't move the beds a little further from the walls." She pursed her lips together as she contemplated whether people really considered how thin the walls were in hotels.

_Thump._

_Thump._

_Thumpity._

_Thumpity._

_Thump._

_Thump, thump, thump._

Booth supposed that he should be grateful that their room wasn't underneath the lovers next door. He pulled the pillow over his head to try and drown out some of the noise which was now being peppered with a variety of exclamations.

"It sounds like they should be almost done." Brennan couldn't help the smirk on her face at the discomfiture of her partner.

As if on cue the noise next door ceased.

"Thank God," Booth gritted out. He didn't need any help whatsoever to think about sex. Being in the same time zone with Bones was often enough in and of itself, but being in the same room with her while he could hear someone else getting it on in the next room was just a little too much.

"They seemed to echo your sentiments." She was just being a little cheeky now, but she found it hard not to be considering the circumstances. Despite needing to focus on a key piece of evidence that Kathy was trying to explain to Andy, she found that Kathy was far more interested in Andy's attributes and she couldn't really concentrate anymore. And if she gave any credence at all to psychology, which she didn't, she might have realized that her subconscious was working overtime.

"Peace and quiet from here on out." Booth gave an inward sigh of relief as he heard Bones click her laptop shut and turn out the small light next to her bed. With her asleep maybe it wouldn't be nearly as hard to fall asleep in the same room.

"The endorphins and drop in norepinephrine should cause them to sleep." Brennan hoped that she could get some sleep herself. The reminder of the biological benefits of satisfying her needs was giving her an irrational fixation on her partner. Well maybe it wasn't all that irrational – he was an attractive, well structured man and he was trying to sleep just across the room.

Leave it to Bones to get all squinty about sex – he only hoped that his vast knowledge of every stat that the Phillies had would come in handy. Thank God for the Phillies.

As soon as Brennan had her eyes closed and she was nearly on the verge of sleep, they snapped right back open.

_Thump._

_Thump._

_Thumpity._

_Thumpity._

"Shit." It wasn't bad enough that he had to share a room with his sexy partner that was completely off limits, he had to end up right next door to the Energizer Bunny on his honeymoon.

"Apparently, they have a lot of stamina." She certainly couldn't begrudge the couple; Charlie had explained that the young newlywed couple in that room was on their honeymoon.

_Thump._

_Thump._

_Thump._

_Thump_

_Thumpity._

_Thumpity._

_Thumpity._

_Thump, thump, thump, thump._

"Short fuse maybe." _Stamina my ass_. Booth had kept a woman happier a lot longer than this amateur seemed to be able to. Clearly he either hadn't done the deed very many times or he was a selfish bastard that didn't have a clue that a woman needed a little more warming up than he was affording his partner if the play by play coming through the wall was any indication.

_Thump._

_Thump._

_Thumpity, thumpity, thumpity, thump._

"Young men do reach their sexual peak in their teens and early twenties." It was a scientific fact and now that she was in her thirties she was beginning to appreciate the biological imperative herself

_Thump, thump, thump._

"Well I this couple is doomed if he can't slow things down a little." Booth couldn't believe that he was critiquing the technique of the couple next door, especially with Bones – it must be the sleep deprivation kicking in that was clouding his judgment.

"Perhaps by the time he gets worn out she'll finally get her release." She found it oddly refreshing that Booth wasn't shying away from a discussion about sex. She considered that maybe it was just when the lights were on that he seemed to have an issue with it.

An unintelligible string of words emanated through the wall and then nothing.

"_He_ seems to be done for the moment." Booth snorted out a laugh as he relished in what he hoped was finally silence for the rest of the night from next door.

Since he seemed intent on the discussion, Brennan offered up some of her own observations. "Woman have found ways for self satisfaction...'

He cut her off. "No, we are not going there. I do not need to hear that. Ok?" Booth just couldn't think about all the ways Bones could be satisfied that didn't include him right then.

If she had a retort it died with another sound from next door.

_Thump._

_Thump._

_Thump._

_Thump._

_Thumpity, thumpity, thump._

_Thump._

_Thump._

Booth snorted out a laugh.

_Thump, thump, thump, thump._

_Thumpity-thump. _

_Thumpity-thump._

_Thump._

_Thump._

_Thump._

Brennan started to giggle.

_Thumpa._

_Thumpa._

_Thumpa._

_Thumpa._

_Thumpa,thumpa, thumpa, thumpa._

_Thumpity-thumpa._

_Thumpity-thumpa._

_Thumpa._

_Thumpa._

_Thumpa._

_Thumpa._

_Thumpa._

That seemed to do it as an unmistakable affirmative yell came through the wall loud and clear, but by then, both Booth and Brennan were laughing so hard that they hardly noticed when it finally fell completely silent next door.


	4. Chapter 4

Booth glanced over as Bones sauntered up and offered her a smile even as he was barking orders at the driver of the flatbed truck that was over an hour late. "Hold it right there. Any further and you're gonna hit the damn thing." He scowled as the driver carefully climbed down from the cab of the truck. From the looks of him he could have been the first cousin or twin separated at birth of the beefy Sheriff given the way the buttons on his shirt were straining to hold as he waddled over to where he was standing.

"I'll get this here thing loaded up and back to DC in no time." He sized up the FBI agent and quickly determined that this guy was all business. Just his luck that he had to get Agent Hardnose instead of a nice easygoing guy – exactly what he needed to deal with after the hairpin turns it took to get his rig into this place.

Brennan was about to interject that he needed to take extra care with the trailer or risk compromising evidence, but Booth beat her to it.

"Hey, buddy, this isn't a pile of junk you're hauling off to the landfill. We have evidence that we're trying to preserve. Dr. Brennan here isn't going to be too happy if you mess up her evidence." His best FBI smile on his face, he turned and grinned at his partner, "Isn't that right, Bones?"

"Booth is right, preservation of the evidence is far more important than the speed in which you accomplish your task." Brennan offered a grateful smile back at Booth.

"Don't you worry your pretty little head, ma'am, I'm quick _and_ careful." With that, the truck driver winked at her and hurried off to join the man who'd ridden along with him to get the trailer loaded.

If she'd seen the wink, she ignored it. "Actually, my head is normal in size – the notion that women have a smaller skull than men is misguided." Her words trailed off as she realized the driver was out of earshot and apparently wasn't interested in a lesson in anatomy. She glanced over at Booth. "Why did he assume that my head was small?"

Booth chuckled in amusement. "It's just an expression, Bones. I would have thought that the _'pretty'_ comment would have gotten more of a rise out of you."

"But I _am_ pretty." Was he suggesting that she wasn't? She had a very distinct recollection that on a number of occasions he'd commented on just how pleasing her appearance was.

"Yes, you are." Booth knew that he was dancing a very fine line here and so he proceeded with caution, lest he find himself sharing an SUV with his very own forensic anthropologist turned tornado. "I just meant that he was focusing on how pretty you are, not on the fact that you're a brilliant scientist."

"Oh." That seemed to placate her and she nodded in agreement that she was indeed brilliant and pretty.

"Have you checked in with the rest of the Squint Squad about the remains we sent over last night?" Booth wanted nothing more than to head back to DC and solve this case without needing to spend another night out here. Well, another night sharing a hotel room with Bones that is, especially with a couple that seemed intent on breaking whatever record there was for sex right next door – just when they thought they had finished up, they had started up again all night long.

"I was just going to go check in. Once Cam and Hodgins have finished, I want to be back there so that I can check the skeletal remains." She also wanted to make sure that they weren't doing anything to compromise them before she had a chance for another examination in her lab.

"Ok, well let me know if they find anything." Booth winced as the driver and his partner seemed to be intent on dragging the trailer as quickly as possible onto the back of the truck and he strode off to intervene.

Brennan reached Angela easily enough on her phone and she booted up her computer on the hood of the SUV and switched over to the webcam to continue the conversation.

"Sweetie, you looked bushed." Angela Montenegro could tell even through the webcam that Brennan hadn't had enough sleep.

"I don't know what that means. There isn't any vegetation within about 50 meters." Brennan brushed her fingers over her hair in the off chance that she'd picked up a leaf or two without realizing it.

"It's an expression – it means that you look tired." The artist interjected; a hint of a smirk adorning her face.

As if on cue she let out a yawn. "Oh, yes, I am tired. Booth and I didn't get much sleep last night with the non-stop sex going on..."

Angela's eyes widened and she let out a squeal that was loud enough to make most of the people within the vicinity on both sides of the connection stop what they were doing and glance over. "You and Booth! Oh, sweetie, that is so great!" She smiled broadly and maybe a bit all knowing. "I knew it was only a matter of time before you two woke up." In fact she was starting to feel a little emotional about it really.

"What?" Brennan had clearly said the words 'next door' at the end of her sentence, but clearly Angela hadn't heard them. "No, Booth and I weren't having sex."

"Oh." Angela's disappointment was obvious.

"Charlie said..." Again, she had barely completed a thought before Angela interrupted.

"Wait who is Charlie and why were you having sex with him? Is he hot?" If her friend couldn't wake up and see just how perfect Agent Hotstuff was, perhaps she'd found the next best thing out in the middle of nowhere West Virginia.

"I wasn't having sex with anyone, Ang." Brennan let out an amused laugh.

"Then who was getting all the action?" She hoped that it wasn't Booth. She didn't think that it could be Booth – he didn't strike her as the one night stand kind of guy although a girl could dream, in a wishing your best friend would jump her partner kind of way that is.

"Charlie, the man who runs the hotel said that the couple in the room next door was on their honeymoon." As much as she enjoyed conversing with Angela, she really needed to find out if anyone at the Jeffersonian had come up with anything.

"Next door to you and Booth? So does that mean that you and Booth had to share a room?" She was sure that if they had been, that the reason that neither one of them got much sleep had less to do with the couple next door and more to do with the fact that they both should have taken the clue to wake up and smell the romance. There was only so much the universe could do when these two were oblivious to their own denial.

"Yes, there was only one room left in the hotel." Surely by now Angela should have had a little more information on the remains that she'd sent to the Jeffersonian; she was anxious to identify the victims.

"How many beds were in the room?" And if there was only one perhaps she could hope for a compelling reason that Booth and Brennan would need to stay out there in the middle of nowhere for at least another night. Resisting each other for one night was one thing, but two would push the restraint of any sane person.

"Booth slept on a pullout couch. Now what about the remains? Were you able to find anything that would help us to identify the victims?" She had done her own preliminary examination, but it had been evident that all of the victims had been sleeping and hadn't had any identification.

"Cam took tissues samples for DNA analysis, but she hasn't gotten the results back yet. Is it true that you're sending the entire trailer?" She didn't doubt it for a moment that the ever thorough Dr. Brennan would do just that. Of course it probably meant that she could put her social life on hold for the foreseeable future.

"Yes, we'll be sending it back as soon as the flatbed is loaded. Booth and I will probably be back late tonight unless we find any compelling leads." Brennan hoped that the evidence was conclusive so that they would have the answers they needed to head back to DC soon.

"Don't hurry back on our account, Sweetie." Maybe another night together in the same room listening to the honeymooner special would be enough of a catalyst for her favorite non-couple to cross the proverbial line.

"I'm sure that we'll be observing a safe speed. The road is rather winding." That had been the primary reason that it had taken so long to get here from DC.

"Right." Angela inwardly rolled her eyes.

"Call me if you find anything." Brennan clicked off the webcam and turned her attention back to the crime scene. Her eyes immediately honed in on Booth who glanced up and locked eyes with her as if he'd felt her looking at him. That of course was scientifically impossible, just as it was impossible that her stomach was flipping with the smile he offered her as she strode back in his direction.

Clearly the fact that she'd only had coffee for breakfast was giving her digestive issues.


	5. Chapter 5

Booth had wondered just when portly Sheriff Murdock would show back up on the scene, of course he'd been a little distracted keeping an eye on Bones. The trailer was almost on the flatbed truck and the lawman waddled up as if he had been the one their directing the entire operation the whole time. There were a few key pieces of information that seemed to be common knowledge around town that the Sheriff hadn't bothered to volunteer about not only the four victims, but the owners of the trailer as well.

"Looks like you're hauling the whole thing away." The Sheriff looked a little put out that he hadn't been pulled into the loop on things, but then again, he'd just come back on shift after pulling a double and he wasn't about to miss out on the missus' apple pie by coming in early.

"We're taking it back to the Jeffersonian." Booth had a stern expression on his face. "What can you tell me about the owners of the trailer?" He knew that there was probably a wealth of information that he needed and unfortunately the person he needed to get it from was standing right in front of him.

"Young couple, split up a while back. Only the husband didn't seem to think that the divorce took. Had to come over her a bunch of times to get him to cool off." The Sheriff shrugged.

"Names would be helpful." Booth's patience was a little short considering the lack of sleep he'd had.

"Michelle and Silas Owens. Haven't seen either one of them in these parts for a while, though I suppose that Michelle had to have been around to rent out the place." His brow was furrowed in thought as he considered that one.

Booth scribbled in a notebook and then gestured towards the trailer which was now being covered up to prevent any contamination of the evidence while it was transported. "Any progress with the names of the victims?" He knew he'd get answers sooner or later, but it would be much better if it was sooner rather than later – especially if it meant that he had to spoon feed the Sheriff questions just to get the answers he needed.

"Gomez or something like that – definitely spoke quite a lot of Spanish. That's just the best I could recollect. Lady and two kids and her sister. Ran into them over at the restaurant while they were having lunch – asked me about schools and churches – the kind of thing you want to know when you're moving to a new place. Can't remember first names though." The Sheriff looked pretty put out about that. He didn't like people dying for no damn good reason in his territory and on his watch, and especially not people that were just going about their business.

Booth nodded and his expression softened. "Thank you." He still had his work cut out for him, but hopefully Cam would be able to get a hit in CODIS or some other database after taking DNA from the victims.

The Sheriff's face took on a conspiratorial tone as he noticed the beautiful forensic anthropologist that was partnered up with Agent Booth. "You and your lady friend sleep ok last night?" He let out a soft chuckle. "Word about town is that young Bobby Wilson and his new bride kept the whole dang inn up last night congratulating themselves on their wedding." He was clearly amused.

Booth didn't need any reminders about what had transpired in the room next door to where he and Bones were trying to sleep. "So we heard."

"She's a pretty thing." Thinking he'd established some sort of lawman bond, the Sheriff gestured towards the lovely scientist who was making her way over towards them. "If I wasn't a married man..." He cleared his throat as he made an exaggerated expression, "Course single fella like you, I'm sure you..." His words trailed off at the agent's glare.

"If you learn anything more about the victims – first names for example, let me know. And I'd appreciate if you could get me the last known address and phone numbers for Michelle and Silas Owens." Booth just wanted to get out of this bend-in-the-road town and head back to DC.

"Right." The Sheriff might be small town, but he certainly wasn't stupid or blind. He could see that there was something more between this pair than they were letting on – call it the old fashioned guy in him – he was rooting for a romance to brew. He nodded in greeting. "Ma'am."

Brennan hardly acknowledged the Sheriff. "Booth, Cam is done with her examination of the victims."

"And you want to get back to DC before she does anything to compromise the bones." He smirked at her. He was just as anxious to get back – one more night sharing a hotel room with her next to the newlyweds was going to bring his restraint to the breaking point and he'd have to resort to sleeping in his SUV.

"Well we don't have any other reason to stay here." Of course the fact that they would have to share a room again if they did was reason enough to pull the issue of going back home. Her biological needs were becoming more acute and it certainly wouldn't help if she had to listen to someone else satisfying theirs when someone as well structured as Booth was so close yet completely fingers off.

"I'll track down that information for you, Agent Booth." The Sheriff waddled unceremoniously towards his squad car.

"Let's get the show on the road, Bones." He felt his lips curling into a smile as he watched that _'I don't know what that means'_ expression flash across her face.

"What does putting a show on the road have to do with us?" Surely there was some sort of expression involved here and she hoped that it was one that meant they could get going soon.

Booth slung an arm over her shoulder and began to propel her towards his SUV. "As soon as they're done wrapping up the trailer, we're heading back to DC." Of course now that he had his arm over her shoulder he was having second thoughts about leaving at all. Maybe one more night here and he could find a way to break that fold out couch so they'd have to share a bed and if they should accidentally end up making out, well then all that much the better. He mentally smacked himself and let his hand drop down to the small of her back - these unpartner-like thoughts he was having were getting out of control.

"Good, because I have a lot of work to do and I'm going to want to get started right away." She reasoned that any sleep she might need she could get on the drive back since she was sure that Booth wasn't going to let her drive.

"Whoa there Bones. By the time we get back it's gonna be late – just about enough time for me to grab us some take out and take you to bed...uh, _put_ you to bed. Alone. By yourself. To sleep. All night. By yourself." He was an FBI Agent – a Special Agent and damn it if he couldn't keep himself from putting his foot in his mouth.

As for Brennan, she felt a fluttering, flipping and spinning in the pit of her stomach at how flustered he seemed to be and this time she couldn't blame it on coffee.


	6. Chapter 6

They had quite nearly gotten out of town on their way back to DC when Michelle Owens, the owner of the trailer, suddenly appeared at the scene, prompting Sheriff Murdock to call Booth and Brennan back. It hadn't taken long at all to turn around and head back to the small town.

As the SUV pulled back into the crime scene, a young woman who was visibly upset as was standing next to the Sheriff and his squad car. From the phone call, Booth knew that it was Michelle Owens – he only hoped that she would be able to shed some light on who the victims were.

"Ms. Owens, I'm Special Agent Seeley Booth, this is my partner Dr. Temperance Brennan." Booth flashed his badge and waited for the petite brunette to say something.

She gestured towards where the trailer had stood. "I just rented this out to Selena and her kids." She began to choke back another sob. Clearly the sight of the scorched ground where the trailer had stood was a little too much.

"Ms. Owens, there were four sets of remains in the trailer." Brennan wanted to identify all of the victims, but as she caught a glance from Booth from the corner of her eye, she wondered if she'd said the wrong thing.

"But Selena only has the two kids...Celia and Francesca..." A realization dawned on her. "Oh, no...her sister must have come early." She choked out another sob.

"Now, Michelle, I know this is hard and all, but the FBI is gonna need as much information as you can give them." Sheriff Murdock was emitting a fatherly persona and it seemed to comfort the young woman somewhat.

"Did you know Selena before you rented the trailer to her?" It seemed to Booth that the woman had some history with the tenants, judging her reaction.

"Yes, I met Selena in a support group..." she hesitated for a moment before continuing, "for battered women. I kicked Silas out, but it took her a lot longer to get away from her husband. She kept saying that she had no place to go, so that's when I offered her the trailer – he didn't know me, so how would he know about where she'd gone? She was just trying to do the right thing for those kids." The young woman started crying again.

Booth knew that the woman was having a difficult time, but they needed to make a positive ID. His tone was gentle but insistent. "Ms. Owens, we need to know what Selena's last name is."

"Gomez. Selena Gomez." She tried to calm herself and focus on what the agent was saying. This was her friend who had died after all and she wanted to do whatever she could to help.

"And what about her sister? You mentioned that you thought her sister had come early." Brennan wanted to identify all four victims – there were family members out there that needed to know what had happened – that needed closure.

"Malina – her sister's name is Malina, Malina Grinkov." At the questioning glance at the trio regarding her, she continued. "She married a Russian guy, he runs and import export business somewhere near DC."

"Appreciate your help there, Michelle." The Sheriff seemed as if he was ready to dismiss her.

Booth shot him a sharp look and continued with his questions. "We believe that the fire was intentionally set – can you tell us the name of Selena's husband?" It seemed logical to him that the man had risen to the top of the list of mystery suspects.

"David." Her brow furrowed deeply. "I'm sure he didn't know she was here though...she said he had gone out of the country to visit his mother...that's why she could get away."

"What country is his mother in?" Brennan queried.

"Peru. I think they were both from there actually, but Selena has been here most of her life." The shock of everything seemed to be settling in.

Booth shifted gears. "Do you know the whereabouts of _your_ ex-husband?" If Selena's husband was truly out of the country then perhaps Silas Owens didn't realize that his ex-wife had moved and he had been responsible for setting the fire.

"I have a restraining order against Silas, Agent Booth. I don't have any idea where he is." The look of realization on her face caused a whole series of emotions to flicker across it.

"Did he know that you had moved?" Brennan was beginning to pick up on where Booth was headed with this. She'd worked enough cases with him to know that the probability of an ex having the motive to commit such a horrific crime for revenge was high.

"I don't know." She let out a frustrated sigh, still sniffling from the overwhelming news that her friend had died. "The last time I saw Silas it wasn't pretty." She glanced over at the Sheriff. "Sheriff Murdock can attest to that."

The Sheriff nodded in agreement. "Silas was sort of worked up. Like I said before, he didn't seem to grasp that the divorce had took."

"A divorce is a legal proceeding, it isn't logical that he..." Brennan's words trailed off as she felt Booth nudge her elbow.

"How long ago was that?" Booth directed his attention to Michelle and the Sheriff.

"I don't remember, two maybe three months ago." Michelle offered.

"I can check the files to tell for sure." The Sheriff had hoped that this whole thing would be open and shut and that he could get back to serving and protecting a small, quiet town.

"You do that." Booth was hungry and judging from the way the minutes seemed to be ticking away, he and Bones were going to be spending another night here – another night of torture if the newlyweds were still staying at the inn.

"I guess you'll be around at least till morning then?" The Sheriff tried to repress a knowing smile.

"Looks that way." Booth glanced over at Bones with an apologetic smile. They were going to have to try and track down Silas Owns and verify whether Selena Gomez's husband had really left the country. At the moment either man seemed to be a likely suspect,

Brennan felt a flip in the pit of her stomach at the thought of spending another night in the same room as Booth. She could compartmentalize. She needed to compartmentalize. Well at least she hoped she could compartmentalize. As long as he was on the other side of the room safely in that fold out couch things would be fine.


	7. Chapter 7

"Of course you _still_ only have _one_ room." Booth wasn't at all surprised, although he had hoped that there would be two rooms available. Maybe if they hadn't waited to get the room until after they'd eaten in the dining room there might have been two. Who was he kidding – fate seemed to be conspiring against him to test the very limits of his resistance to temptation.

"Uh, and I'm afraid that the same room you had before is already rented out for the night. We only have the small room left." Charlie looked apologetic as handed over the key.

"Small is ok. We just need a room to sleep in." As long as there was a fold out couch Brennan was sure that everything would be just fine.

"Just down the hall there to the left." He pointed the way as Booth and Brennan each hoisted a bag over their shoulder.

"Thank you." Brennan offered as she took the lead. It had been a long day preceded by an even longer night and all she wanted to do was crawl in bed and go to sleep. She was perfectly content about the situation until she opened the door and realized that there was a reason why Charlie had referred to the room as 'the small one'. "There's only one bed."

Booth exhaled loudly as if he had to remind her that they had been in exactly the same situation the night before. "I'll just sleep on the pull out couch." The words hung in the air as he took a quick visual inventory of the room and came up one pull out couch short of the room they'd had before. The words 'small room' were swirling around his head like a scrolling marquee.

Brennan steeled herself; she could compartmentalize – she'd have to compartmentalize. They were only here for sleep, so surely since they were both intent on sleep, the bed was adequate for both of them. Any biological urges she might have would just have to be packed away into the compartment called 'way behind the line'.

Booth swallowed hard. He was sure that he was going to Hell. Or maybe he was already there – Hell on Earth – sleeping with his partner without actually being able to touch her. Yes, this was most definitely Hell on Earth.

"We'll just have to share." It was purely logical to Brennan that since there was only one bed and there were two of them and not much in the way of floor space that they should share the bed.

"Or I could sleep in the tub." It was certainly a valid suggestion and to make his point he pushed the door to the bathroom open and cursed under his breath. The bathroom was so small that you almost needed to step outside to turn around. "Uh, there's no tub – just a shower."

She inwardly rolled her eyes. "Booth, we're adults. I'm sure that we can share a bed for one night." Why was he making such a big deal out of it?

Adults.

That was the damn problem.

He was a healthy adult man and she was a woman beyond any man's dream and she though it was a good idea to share a bed. "Yeah. Ok." What the hell was he thinking – 'yeah', 'ok'? He was going to be saying Hail Mary's and Our Father's until the end of time to atone for just the thoughts going through his mind.

With that settled, Brennan quickly went about the task of getting ready for bed. After ducking into the bathroom and then walking back in on Booth while he was in the middle of changing and a few awkward moments trying to figure out who was sleeping on which side of the bed later they were finally in bed, under the covers making a valiant effort to go to sleep.

Booth was stock still. He was sure that if he moved at all he was going to be a dead man because surely if he crossed the imaginary line in the middle of the bed Bones would kill him. Why did she have to smell so good?

Brennan couldn't sleep. As tired as she was, the fact that her biological urges were in overdrive made having this particular man laying next to her that much more difficult. Apparently she couldn't compartmentalize as well as she thought she could.

As if things couldn't get any worse, the unthinkable happened.

_Thump. Thump. Thumpity, thumpity, thump, thump thump._

_Thump. Thump. Thumpity, thumpity, thump._

_Thump._

_Thump._

_Thump._

_Thump._

"You have got to be kidding me." Booth gritted the words out. Apparently this room was directly below the room where the newlyweds were staying. If he'd thought having it next door was bad, having it directly over his head was seventeen times worse.

_Thump._

_Thump._

_Thumpa._

_Thumpa._

_Thump._

_Thump._

_Thump._

_Thumpity, thumpa, thump, thump._

Brennan's jaw dropped and she felt the sudden urge to cry. Not only couldn't she seemingly compartmentalize, she now had to listen to what her body was screaming out to be doing herself – with Booth. If she believed in hell this must be what it was like.

_Thump._

_Thump._

_Thump._

_Thump._

_Thumpity._

_Thumpity._

_Thumpa._

_Thumpa._

Booth clutched the edge of the blanket so that he wouldn't reach out and touch Bones. What had he been thinking? Sleeping in the backseat of his SUV would have been a much better idea than this. This was his own personal hell, just one breath away from a taste of heaven.

"I wonder if they'll be at it all night." She didn't realize that the words had slipped out until she heard Booth let out a pained groan in response.

"Bones, you just had to go and say it." He wasn't going to get any sleep at all.

This was going to be a very, very long night.


	8. Chapter 8

Apparently the only way that Brennan could compartmentalize was to begin a running commentary on the activities upstairs. "She really shouldn't fake it. Studies show that women that feel the need to allow their partner to believe that they've had their biological urges satisfied limit their ability to ever find a fulfilling partner."

Booth simply wanted to cover his ears to block it all out. But another part of him wanted to show her that a real man didn't need to make a woman fake it.

"And judging by the cadence of the thumping, he's straining his lower lumbar area." She shifted to try and get a little bit more comfortable – as comfortable as she could be under the circumstances.

"No squinty-speak in bed." Booth blurted the words out in a scold, glancing over at her. "This is a squinty-speak free zone." Oh, why did he turn to look at her? What was he thinking? Looking at her so close, it was almost too much.

Brennan's lips pursed and her brow furrowed slightly. "I've made you uncomfortable."

He steeled himself and began to mentally recite baseball stats to distract him. "Look, Bones, can we not talk about the elephants in the room above us?" They did sound like what a wooly mammoth might sound like if it wasn't extinct, he decided.

"Pachyderms aren't even closely related to humans." She was sure that he was using some sort of figure of speech, but she wasn't sure what it was supposed to mean in this context.

"I just don't want to talk about what is obviously going on up there, ok?" He hadn't meant to sound so gruff, but sometimes she was just so clueless. How could she not know how difficult it was to share a bed with her and have to listen to that?

"You didn't seem to have a problem with the conversation last night." She had actually been surprised because he had been the one that had started critiquing what they'd heard through the wall the previous night. She had only assumed that since it had helped to pass the time a bit more enjoyably that he would have been open to it tonight.

The words were out before he realized that maybe he'd shared too much. "Last night _we_ weren't sharing a bed." He felt his stomach sink at his inadvertent confession.

"So then it's my proximity to you that's the issue, not the topic of conversation." She wasn't really sure what to make of that. Did she repulse him? She didn't think so – especially not after their kiss last Christmas under the mistletoe. No matter that she'd claimed it was like kissing her brother, it had been a very memorable kiss that she'd wondered whether she'd ever have another opportunity to repeat.

Booth wanted nothing more than to run – he should have slept in his SUV, but the honesty in her tone made him realize that maybe it was time to address the elephant in the bed. "Bones, we're partners...and we have a line that's very difficult to stay behind."

She let out a sigh and shifted again, her foot inadvertently brushing against his shin.

He nearly let out a yelp. "Your feet are ice cubes." And he couldn't help but think of a million ways he'd like to help her warm up. She was definitely _not_ helping.

"That would be impossible...but you're speaking metaphorically aren't you?" She was tempted to launch into an explanation of exactly why her feet were cold, but he had said the bed was a squinty-speak free zone and she was sure that any explanation she might offer would fall under his loose definition.

"Well they're cold, alright." He was looking into her eyes now in the dim light that filtered in through the small window the room offered. He wanted to point out that she'd crossed the imaginary line in the middle of the bed, but he wasn't completely sure that she knew that it was there.

Everything was quiet for a moment, save the endless thumping above their heads, and maybe it was that rhythm that pushed the words out of Brennan's mouth. "Why is the line so difficult to stay behind?" Booth was the one that had put it there and she trusted him, but maybe it was just a kind way for him to tell her that he wasn't attracted to her. "If you don't want me..."

There seemed to be no way around this and so he dove in where he swore he never would. "It's because I _do_ want you. That's why it's so hard to stay behind that line." He couldn't help himself. "Because you're so beautiful." He had put the line there to protect them, but it seemed that they'd been barreling towards it ever since and somehow he found that the momentum was unstoppable.

"Oh." Her eyes widened and she wasn't sure whether that was an invitation to do what she'd been wanting to do for longer than she wanted to admit or if he was simply stating the facts, intent on staying behind his line.

"Now _I've_ made _you_ uncomfortable." Of course the fact that she hadn't said anything but 'oh' made him incredibly unsettled and he was giving very serious thought to spending the rest of the night safely in the back of his SUV – alone.

"No." She shook her head softly. "I'm comfortable." She was anything but comfortable, but that was because of the flurry of emotions swirling deep inside of her that were threatening to unleash themselves. "I was just wondering which side of your line I was on."

Hope began to spring up inside of Booth and he couldn't take his eyes off of her. "Which side do you want to be on?" He wanted the damn line to be gone – obliterated forever.

She threw her logic to the rain and slid across the gap between them, looking into his eyes. "This side." There was still a hint of doubt that this was really happening, but as soft as a whisper it was gone the instant she felt Booth press his lips against hers.

All of his restraint unraveled as his fingers sought out Bones – soft and curvy, sexy Bones. If he'd thought their kiss under mistletoe had set him off balance, this had him flat on his back – or maybe that was just Bones. Oh, yes, it was Bones.

Brennan's biological urges were in overdrive and with her leg slung across Booth's hips, she pressed herself closer – craving him – no needing him closer as she felt his fingers threading through her hair, deepening their kiss – holding on until the need to get a breath pulled them apart.

"I want you, Bones." Booth's voice was husky as he pulled her in for another kiss. Wanting her didn't even come close to describing how he was feeling just then. He wanted know what it was like to not know where he ended and she began.

She had fistfuls of his shirt in her hands as she rolled onto her back, desperately trying to keep from breaking the kiss and failing miserably. "Booth, I need you." This was beyond any biological urge she'd had – the emotion she felt welling up was going to swallow them both and she willingly went.

And somewhere in the middle of discovering each other, the amateur 'thumpa-thumpa' upstairs seemed to fade into the background.


	9. Chapter 9

The incessant chirping of a cell phone intruded into Booth's wildest fantasy of spooning with a very naked Bones. And as the chirping continued and he was pulled out of a sleepy haze, he realized that his fantasy was glorious reality – except for the damn phone. He sure as hell hoped whoever was calling had a damn good reason as he flipped the phone open and answered a bit gruffly. "Booth."

"_Agent Booth, I was able to locate Silas Owens, but I'm pretty sure he isn't your guy." Sheriff Murdock seemed a bit put out on the phone by the agent's tone._

"Why's that?" Booth had hoped that it would have been just an easy open and shut case of a jealous ex-husband making a tragically fatal mistake on the wrong victims. Of course, nothing was ever that simple and as he felt Bones starting to stir next to him, he really, really hoped that she wouldn't regret obliterating his line.

"_He's been in County General for the last four days – smashed his car up drinking and driving – came in as a John Doe. He was finally able to get the tube out of his throat and let someone know who he was." The Sheriff cleared his throat. "I would have liked to pin this one on him myself for all the grief he gave Michelle over the years, but it just doesn't add up."_

Booth rubbed his hand over his face and let out a sigh, "Thanks." He clicked off the call, glad that the Sheriff had managed to take care of that little detail.

"Something about the case?" Brennan shifted to face him and couldn't help the smile that pulled at the corners of her mouth. She had thoroughly enjoyed obliterating Booth's line and she hoped that there was time to cross it again before they had to get up and face reality.

"Yeah, Silas Owens has an alibi." He felt a wave of relief at her smile – since the phone had interrupted his sleep he'd been bracing himself for the regret that he was sure that she would be feeling at what they'd done. She didn't seem at all regretful, and in fact she seemed very glad to have him in her bed.

"So then we check out David Gomez and track down Melina's husband." She was confident that they'd solve the case and bring the victim's justice. She and Booth were the best at what they did – the killer didn't have a chance.

"And we need to head back to DC to do that." He noted her bed head and felt a smile spreading across his face at the memory of how it felt to bury his fingers in her hair as he kissed her, something that he very much wanted to do again – soon.

Brennan yawned. "What time is it?" It felt early, but then again, they hadn't gotten much sleep.

"I have no idea." He reached for his cell phone to check the time since they'd managed to knock the alarm clock onto the floor at some point. "It's twenty minutes after six." Far too early for his liking.

"Mmmnph." She was an early riser, but even she couldn't justify getting up this early with a delicious Booth in her bed. She closed her eyes and stretched out on her stomach, smiling as she heard a soft chuckle next to her.

"Who knew you could be so lazy." There was an ease to this waking up next to her that he hadn't expected and he lay back and tucked his arms behind his head. If she wanted to stay in bed, there was no reason for him to get up – at least right away.

She didn't say a word – she simply eased her foot over and slid it up his calf.

Booth let out a low chuckle and rolled onto his side as his fingers reaching out to trail along her spine until they slid into her hair and he ducked his head and placed a kiss against her shoulder, and then another a little further up until she lifted herself up a bit and met his lips with her own.

Slow languid kisses, neither one of them in a hurry the way they had been when they'd consummated their friendship into something decidedly more romantic.

Booth whispered against her mouth. "I was afraid you were going to tell me that what happened last night was just a result of biological urges." His insecurity seemed to ooze out into the room.

Brennan pulled back and just looked at him for a moment. "I wouldn't let you cross your line just for the sake of biological urges." She'd wanted to cross the line many times, but she'd held back not just because he'd drawn it, but because she'd never really had the kind of friendship with anyone else that she had with him.

"Good." That seemed to settle it for him and he leaned in again and kissed her, pleased when she didn't seem to want to continue the conversation. Kissing Bones was better than anything he could describe – better than the million times he'd imagined it and being able to let his hands move over her soft curves was beyond that.

The insistent chirp of a cell phone seemed intent on interrupting them and finally, Brennan reached for hers intent on silencing it, but answered it instead. "Brennan."

"_Sweetie, look I know it's early, but Cam asked me to call you to find out when you and Booth might be heading back to DC." Angela sounded tired herself and clearly unimpressed at the hour of the morning she was already making calls for work. "The remains are here waiting for you and she wants to make sure you get what you need from them before she starts taking samples for DNA and other evidence."_

"We're heading back this morning." She was doing her best to sound normal as Booth nuzzled her neck. "We just have a few things to finish up first." Of course she wasn't going to be specific about what those things were.

"_So how are things going with Agent Hot Stuff?" There was a wistful tone in Angela's voice. "No, wait, don't answer that – this is you we're talking about and I'd rather be as delusional about the two of you finally hooking up as you are about the fact that you're meant for each other."_

"Ang." Brennan wasn't sure what to say to her best friend, especially given that she wanted to get off the phone as quickly as possible and because Booth had just ducked his head under the covers and was doing a very good job of distracting her.

"_We'll talk when you get back and I'll point out all of your missed opportunities." Angela was sure that she could point out a few dozen even from here without knowing whether or not they'd had to share a hotel room again. "Bye, Sweetie."_

"Sure." Brennan was glad that Angela had ended the call and she tossed her phone in the general direction of the floor and then ducked under the covers herself.


	10. Chapter 10

"You're not going to like what I have to tell you." Cam had gotten DNA results back by the time Booth and Brennan walked through the door of the Jeffersonian.

"Why what are you going to tell me?" Brennan seemed a little confused.

"DNA does not match the identity of your victims." Cam was sure that the dynamic duo wasn't going to like the news, especially after she gave them the entire story.

"What do you mean it doesn't match?" Booth glanced over at Bones with a quizzical look and she looked just as surprised as he did.

"The DNA came back to a Gabriella Santos and judging from the markers in common, the children are hers and the other female is her sister." Cam continued.

"Who is Gabriella Santos?" Brennan chimed in.

"That's what Booth needs to find out. All I got was a name, the rest is classified." Cam was confident that Booth would be able to navigate whatever channels were needed.

"Why would it be classified?" Brennan's question was as much directed at Cam as it was at Booth.

Booth could only imagine the myriad of scenarios for why this particular woman's information was classified. Hopefully a quick call to the Bureau would solve that little mystery and they could continue on with their case. He already had his cell phone out as he grabbed the file with its limited information from Cam. "This is Agent Booth. I need to find out who has a classified status placed on a Gabriella Santos. She's one of the victims in that trailer fire." He clicked off the phone and glanced over at Bones and Cam. "The most likely scenario is that she's part of the witness protection program."

"Well if that's true, they didn't do a very good job since she ended up dead." Cam concluded.

"Let's just wait until we have all of the evidence." Brennan concluded a bit abruptly. It wasn't terribly rational for Cam to fall to conclusions when they didn't even know if the woman had been part of the program and if she had that still didn't explain the identity of the three other victims.

"Ok, then." Cam's eyebrows raised and she offered Booth a bit of a look as she stepped away. Clearly someone hadn't gotten a whole lot of sleep while they were out in the field because Dr. Brennan seemed to be much testier than usual.

As Cam walked away, Booth followed Bones into her office. "Hey, we'll get to the bottom of whoever classified her file _and_ we'll figure out how the other three were related to all of this." He was confident, they were the best at what they did and he truly hoped that federal red tape wouldn't keep them from bringing the victims justice.

"At least we know that they all were related." Knowing the true identity of one of the victims would make the identification of the others that much easier; however, since the identities they had been working off before were no longer applicable, she wasn't sure what the next step was. She looked at Booth expectantly.

He offered her a smile and plopped down on her couch. "When we wrap up this case, I want to take you out to eat." Now that they'd redefined what partners meant he felt that a bit of a celebration was in order.

"We always go out to eat when we wrap up a case." In fact she seemed to recall that he'd been showing up at her door with takeout in hand for nearly as long as they'd been working together even in the middle of a case. She leaned against her desk and smirked at him, taking time to admire the physique that she'd begun to get very well acquainted with.

Booth didn't miss her perusal and he waggled his brows at her and gave her a once over as well. "A date, Bones. I think that a real date would be in order. And anthropologically speaking it is a tradition for a man to take the woman that he's in a romantic relationship with out to dinner and a movie as part of the dating ritual." He grinned and hoped that she would be impressed with his attempt at squinty-speak.

"Anthropologically speaking, the mating ritual can be accomplished in many different ways and the male doesn't always initiate." She crossed her arms in front of her, effectively enhancing her bust line although she seemed to be oblivious to it.

Booth ogled her for a moment and then stood up and sauntered over to where she was standing. It had been a long car ride with a single stop and he hadn't had a chance to kiss her for at least a couple of hours. If she was going to taunt him, then he had no choice but to take the bait. "I said _dating_ ritual, not _mating_ ritual, but since I'm hoping that our _date_ will end up the way last night did, I'll overlook it."

"You'll overlook it?" She snorted out a laugh. He really _was_ cocky and although the belt buckle could be fully quantified by what was beneath it, it was most definitely an icon for his ego as well. Her eyes held his in challenge as he came to a stop right in front of her and placed a hand on either side of her on the desk.

"It's an anthropological inevitability." Those were word that she had spoken to him in the afterglow and he couldn't help but repeat them back to her with a shit-eating grin on his face.

She rolled her eyes at him. "I'm the anthropologist."

"Yes, you're the _sexy_ anthropologist and I'm the sexy FBI agent." Booth was undaunted and he leaned in a little closer.

"You _are_ very sexy." Brennan answered him as if she was making her own observation and concluding that it concurred with his.

"And so are you." He leaned in and softly kissed her, not at all caring that they were in her office or that there was an entire bank of windows that anyone in the lab could see through. This development between them was not something that he wanted to keep from anyone.

Despite the niggling voice of 'professionalism' trying to speak up in the back of her mind, she eagerly kissed him back, easily sliding her arms around his shoulders as they sailed well past the five steamboat mark. They might have hit the twenty steamboat mark if the chirping of Booth's phone hadn't interrupted them.

"Booth." He took a good step back from Bones and tried to focus on the words coming out of the mouth of the person on the other end of the line. "That's what I was afraid of." His brow was furrowed now. "Thanks, Charlie, but no, I'll go talk to Cullen myself." He clicked off and offered an explanation to Bones as he slid the phone back in his pocket. "The file was sealed by the State Department. She's either in the witness protection program or something else is going on. Either way, only someone with Cullen's clearance can open it." The fact that his security clearance was pretty damn high and he couldn't get access pissed him off.

"I want to come." She knew that it was unlikely that he would let her, but she wanted to try and give Cullen a compelling reason to let them have access to the information.

"Sorry, Bones, I need to talk to him myself. I'll let you know what I find out, but right now, I'm not even sure _I'm_ going to get to see what's in that file." If that was the result then they would just have to turn all of their findings over to the State Department and walk away from the case.

"So then we'll have dinner?" She reasoned that tonight was as good as any other night to have that date he was talking about. After last night and this morning, her biological urges were in overdrive when it came to him and she couldn't find a rational or logical reason why they shouldn't just act on them.

Booth grinned at her and felt a flip in his stomach that made him feel like an insecure teenager that had just gotten the most beautiful girl in school to go out with him. "Yes, we'll have dinner." He leaned in and kissed her again; a rather chaste kiss compared with the one they'd shared a few moments before.

"And the movie and intercourse." She did her best to waggle her eyebrows right back at him in as she spoke in a rather suggestive tone.

Booth pulled a face, but he wasn't about to argue about her choice of words on the off chance that she'd change her mind about it. "Yes, that too." He leaned in and kissed her again, not quite as chastely this time and before she could slide her arms around his shoulders again, he pulled away. "I'll call you when I'm done."

"I'll be looking forward to that." She couldn't help the grin that spread across her face as she watched him walk purposefully out of her office. After he turned out of sight, she shook herself out of her reverie and tried to find a little purpose herself – bone things, she needed to focus on bone things.

A rather bewildered looking Angela seemed to appear out of nowhere, suddenly standing right next to Brennan's desk. "Am I hallucinating, Bren, or did I just see you and Booth kissing?"


	11. Chapter 11

Booth had a purposeful look on his face as he walked back into the Jeffersonian, intent on finding Bones and filling her in on the latest development in their case.

Angela Montenegro, it seemed, had other ideas. She stepped in front of him, toe tapping away and eyebrow raised.

Most men would have immediately stop in their tracks and fear for the safety of their masculinity at the look she was shooting his direction. Seeley Booth was not most men. He offered her a mildly amused smile. "Angela."

"Look here, Booth, Brennan is my best friend and despite the fact that I'm thrilled about the new development between the two of you, if you do anything to break her heart, I will personally find some way to hurt you." Of course the fact that her best defensive tool was spitting with deadly accuracy didn't diminish the intensity of her delivery.

Booth smirked. "I'll keep that under advisement." It appeared that the news about him and Bones had traveled at light speed in the few hours that he'd been gone and he wondered if it was because Bones herself had shared the information or if his inability to keep his lips off of her had triggered the latest fodder for the gossip mill.

"And just one other thing." Angela looked genuinely put out "Why didn't either of you say anything? Not that I need a blow by blow." Of course she certainly expected one as soon as she could pry Brennan away from the lab for some long overdue girl time.

"Is Bones in her office?" Booth resisted the urge to chuckle at Angela's overzealous interest in what was going on between he and Bones. They had agreed to at least attempt some semblance of professionalism while they were working, and having a heart to heart about his love life with Angela in the middle of lab didn't even make his top ten list on how to achieve this, not even close.

"Yes." She knew when she was being dismissed, she'd gotten about the same reaction from Brennan who had promised that she would share details later. Angela had gotten the impression that the pair was still ironing out the details of what they were and her inner cheerleader was going wild for them. Of course the matchmaker in her wanted a front row seat.

He breezed past her and only slowed when he reached Bones' office. The smile on his face was involuntary as he took in the sight of her planted at her desk in front of her laptop, her brow furrowed in concentration. He hadn't even said a word and she glanced up, seemingly knowing it was him.

"What did Cullen say?" She felt her stomach flip and she the corners of her mouth quirked into a smile as she locked onto his brown eyes.

"State Department sealed her file - in conjunction with the Justice Department. Her husband has some questionable ties to Chavez and she was supposed to testify." Booth hadn't been able to get the entire story, but enough to know that what they were dealing with was not anything they were going to be able to resolve anytime soon.

"What do his ties with the Venezuelan government have to do with her and three other people burning in a trailer in West Virginia?" Brennan leaned back in her chair and studied Booth's response.

"I don't know, most everything about it is classified and I'm not going to get the answers I want. I can't even know what she was going to testify against him for. All we can do is determine the cause of death and provide a report of what we know so far. The State Department wants to take over the case." He knew that she wouldn't be happy about it. But he also knew that the best chance the victims had in getting justice was Temperance Brennan.

"What about the other three?" Surely they could keep working the case for those three. She wasn't giving up so easily.

"Look, Bones, I know that we've worked hard. The State Department may even request your services, but officially, as soon as you and the Squints do their thing with what we've brought in I have to hand the case over." There was a small window for his involvement, a very small window.

"That's simply not fair." They had been working hard and whatever the outcome she felt as if Booth needed to be the one getting credit, not some stuffed sock at the State Department. She would gladly assist if she was asked, but she would make it clear that she wanted Booth to work the case. She had connections too and she'd pulled a rope or two if she had to.

"But it's the way it is. Cullen thinks that we have a day or two at most before the State Department will insist on having the investigation handed over." Of course that could have its advantages too. He'd promised her dinner and a movie and she'd promised where the evening would end. Things were definitely not all bad.

She nodded and let out a sigh and then felt the corners of her mouth turn up again as Booth plopped down in the chair on the other side of her desk. "Angela saw us earlier. I didn't really tell her much, but she wanted details."

"That explains why she intercepted me on the way in here." He let out the chuckle he'd held in earlier. "I just wonder who else knows." Not that he minded in the least.

"Well, given that you kissed me in full view of everyone, I'd be surprised if they didn't all know." She gave him an appreciative smile.

"Sweets is going to have a heyday over this one." He hadn't even considered how that was going to go over until the words were out of his mouth.

Brennan looked worried. "Do you think that he'll object?"

"I have a feeling that he saw this coming a mile away." He didn't tell her that he'd come clean with Cullen and the only surprise the man had was that they weren't already together. Rumors had abounded so long at the Bureau as to what the actual nature of Booth's relationship with his partner was that he was sure that people had expected it as an eventuality.

"Then why will he have a strawday with it?" She was already considering how she might rebut any inquiry that Dr. Sweets would have about she and Booth, especially if his intent was to break them up.

"It's heyday, Bones. And Sweets just has a very unhealthy interest in what goes on between you and I that's all. You saw how he reacted to that kiss under the mistletoe, well this will be ten times more annoying. He'll probably start asking highly inappropriate questions that even you won't want to answer." Booth could just imagine all the ways that Sweets was going to poke his nose into their business.

"I have no problem answering questions. I just hate psychology." She was unsure if Sweets would find a way to break them up and she hoped that it wouldn't be the case, but she couldn't allow herself to worry. Worrying was irrational, but then again, she'd done a number of irrational things lately and they all had to do with the man seated across from her.

"I just don't like the idea of him poking his nose into our sex life under the guise of official FBI business just because he gets off on it." Booth seemed to huff out his words.

Brennan offered a conspiratorial grin. "Speaking of our sex life, what time did you want to have dinner tonight?" She was less interested in food and far more interested in what came after.

"Is seven too early?" It was only a few hours away and he still had quite a bit of paperwork to get through. Normally, he would have suggested they tackle the paperwork over takeout, but he did not want tonight to involve any work at all.

Seven seemed like an eternity to her and despite the fact that she still had enough work to keep her there until midnight, she had considered leaving early. "How would you feel about six and ordering dinner in?" There had been talk about a movie in there somewhere, but surely they could do that another time.

A smug expression made its way across Booth's face and he let out a soft chuckle. "Thai ok with you?" He was not about to argue with the change of plans, he'd been thinking about her all day and six o'clock couldn't come soon enough.


	12. Chapter 12

"What's the laptop for, I thought we were staying strictly personal tonight?" Brennan looked at Booth a bit quizzically as he set the bags of take out on her dining room table and then set his laptop case down on one of the chairs. Not that she wasn't okay with doing a little work, but she was sure that they had done all that they could on the case before things had been handed over and she had been looking forward to spending an uninterrupted evening alone with Booth.

"Well _you_ don't have a TV and I _did_ promise dinner and a movie." His charm smile pulled at the corners of his mouth as he considered how much he really didn't care about the movie at all.

"Oh." She didn't want to sound surprised, but she had thought it was apparent that since they were eating in that they were going to focus on the physical part of the evening.

He smirked and then took a step towards her. "Bones, I want us to have a real date, even if it's for an evening in; and I thought that maybe after we ate we could watch a movie on the laptop," he waggled his eyebrows at her suggestively, "and then maybe end up making out on your couch for a while." Not that he didn't want to immediately march right off to the bedroom with her thrown over his shoulder.

"You want to make out instead of having intercourse?" She couldn't hide her disappointment as it flickered across her face. This was a fine time for him to get completely uptight about sex. For goodness sake, they'd already crossed that line - several times.

"No, Bones, I want both." He let out a soft laugh and reached out, pulling her into his arms and placing a kiss against her cheek. "Sometimes you are so damn literal." And that was one of the things that he found so endearing about her.

"Dinner and a movie really isn't necessary as a precursor you know." She felt a smile spreading across her face in spite of herself. This was nice standing here in Booth's arms.

"Maybe I enjoy having a precursor." He whispered in her ear and if he was a betting man he wasn't so sure they were going to make it through dinner at all, let alone a movie.

As if reading his mind, she tipped her head back a little and let her hands slide up his chest. "I'm sure that _if_ we get to the movie, we can watch it in the bedroom. And I'm not really all that hungry right now either." Her inference was clear, especially with the sultry expression that had transformed her features.

"Is that so?" With a grunt befitting an alpha male cave man, Booth hoisted Bones over his shoulder, letting out a chuckle at her girlish squeal and purposefully marched towards her bedroom. If Bones wanted to go right for the dessert course, who was he to argue with her?

"I have perfectly good legs, Booth. I am more than capable of walking to my bedroom on my own power." Of course she was also incredibly turned on by his strength. And it she was going to let anyone go alpha male on her, it was Booth.

"Oh, I know all about how perfect those legs of yours are." Booth's grin had spread about as wide as it could get by the time he unceremoniously deposited her on the bed and then kicked off his shoes before crawling up after her. He had firsthand knowledge of just what amazing things she could do with those legs and he was looking forward to enjoying them all over again.

"We could have approached this far more practically." Brennan found herself staring up at his deep brown eyes and not caring at all at how they ended up in bed.

"Screw practical, baby." Booth slid his arm around her waist and pulled her a little closer, letting his nose nuzzle up against her neck as his hand began to drift up her blouse.

"Don't call me baby." She mumbled just before Booth's lips pressed against hers. She let out a soft moan against his mouth - the man could kiss - the man could do a lot of things well.

All of the frustration of the day and having to hand the case off because of government bureaucracy seemed to fade away as he gave his full attention to kissing Bones. And somehow the extra Mee Krab he'd gotten just for her would just have to keep for a while.

* * *

"I don't normally eat in bed." Brennan had a rather satisfied smile on her face as she dipped her chopsticks into the container of Mee Krab. She'd gotten a rather lovely view of Booth's well developed gluteal muscles as he'd tromped off to gather the take out containers and bring them back to her bedroom after what she could only describe as extremely enjoyable sex.

"Well, think of the advantages, every meal in bed and then we don't have to waste so much time getting naked." For a guy who had cringed ever time Bones had brought up sex in the last several years, he certainly was comfortable with it now and he hoped that she realized that his discomfort with the topic had been because he hadn't been able to have sex with her. Until now of course.

"I would be extremely difficult to conduct murder investigations from bed." She was going to call his bluff, but the idea of him doing his job in the buff was an idea too amusing to pass up.

He scooted a little closer to where she was tangled up in her sheets and leaned in as if he was going to kiss her. He paused instead. "I suppose you have a point, but I'm pretty sure that your lab coat would cover up just enough...at least until I came by the lab, but I think your office has too many windows to consider having my way with you on your desk."

Brennan snorted out a laugh. "Booth!" The idea that he'd even considered it surprised her and she realized that she had grossly underestimated her partner all this time.

"Yeah, I said that." He let out a chuckle of his own and then leaned in and kissed her, feeling her smile against his mouth.

As she pulled back she looked at him thoughtfully. "Well it's a good thing that we plan on keeping our sex life out of the workplace. Your office has too many windows as well."

This time Booth couldn't help but snort out a laugh. "Oh, but what I wouldn't give to be able to do that." He would definitely lose his job or at the very least be reprimanded for having a naked forensic anthropologist sprawled across his desk while he showed her exactly why he wore that belt buckle.

"I'm fairly certain that it's against Bureau regulations." She popped the last bite of the Mee Krab in her mouth and plopped the carton on her bedside table before she rolled towards him.

"Yes, I'm sure it is." He glanced at her with a smirk on his face. "It's a good thing that we're off duty then."

"What's going to happen to the other victims? We haven't conclusively identified them other than the fact that they are related to Gabriella Santos. Does the State Department even care about the other three?" Her concern was very real - she did not like giving up on a victim that needed justice just because of government bureaucracy.

"I don't know, Bones. But I know that you care about them. They're only interested in Gabriella's husband - once they wrap up whatever they need to in that case I'm sure that we'll get the opportunity to get them closure." He wasn't sure that it was true, but it was certainly possible and she seemed satisfied with his answer as she smiled at him.

"Mmm, this is nice." She really couldn't think of any other place she wanted to be just then.

"This _is_ nice." Booth placed his carton of food on the table on his side of the bed. "So what do you say about that movie now?" He really didn't care if they ever got to the movie, but somehow he thought Bones would enjoy 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding', if for no other reason than to hear her spout off random anthropological references.

"Sure that would be nice." He _had_ promised her that they could make out during the movie and she was discovering with him that she had a rather enormous sexual appetite. She could get used to having him in her bed.

He flashed her a grin and then slipped out of bed to go retrieve the laptop from the dining room. "Okay, I'll be right back."

"I'll be right here." With his well defined posterior as her view she couldn't help but smile appreciatively.

Yes, she most definitely could get used to this.

_**The End**_


End file.
